4 Ups & 3 Downs From NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 15 (Night 2)

New Japan Pro Wrestling deliver an early Match of the Year contender. Jeff Cobb, take a damn bow...

by Michael Sidgwick
Kota Ibushi
New Japan World

Night 1 of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 15 was a triumph, given the distanced and muted crowd that soaked in the show.

It still rocks, and it doesn't diminish how iconic it is, but the cavernous and gigantic Tokyo Dome doesn't generate the most fervent of atmospheres in normal times, much less the sadness whirlpool at the edge of which we are all trying desperately to cling. This helped, to an extent, in that it didn't feel as bittersweet. It's not quite the Budokan.

Or maybe that's bargaining.

Grim as it reads, everybody seems used to this now. The days of packed-in houses feel at this point as much of a relic as low-res fan-cam footage from an ancient, long-forgotten 1970s house show.

Kazuchika Okada is a professional wrestling genius. Knowing how f*cked all of this is, and was probably going to be for a long, long time, he deliberately created a fictional layer of hopelessness to reward fans even if they couldn't react to the great comeback in full voice.

Across the worst year of NJPW's great resurgence, he struggled as a character but informed, steadily, the majesty of his Wrestle Kingdom performance. He toiled. Bereft of confidence - again, in character - he toyed with a new Money Clip submission finisher to middling effect. He didn't have it in him to execute the Rainmaker until he finally busted it out at the apex of a blinding match against Will Ospreay that, in addition to the dangerous thrill-ride of a happy ending, highlighted a very strong show.

As for night Night 2...?

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!